George W. Bush: 'I hope Jeb runs' for president

Memo to Jeb Bush: Call your big brother, George, because he thinks you should run for president.

“I hope Jeb runs,” Bush told CNN’s Jake Tapper, in an interview that aired Thursday. “I think he would be a great president. I have no clue what’s on his mind. We’ll talk when he’s ready.”

As Jeb Bush criss-crosses the country making speeches, the former Florida governor has been near the top of early public opinion polls for the 2016 GOP nomination — along with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. A new Quinnipiac University poll in Florida shows Bush would easily be the favorite Republican but would trail Hillary Rodham Clinton if they had a head-to-head matchup right now in the crucial swing state.

Former President Bush told CNN that his brother isn’t looking at the polls as he tries to make a decision about 2016. “He’s checking his core,” the 43rd president said, adding that his brother is also weighing the impact a race would have on his family.

The brothers have not talked about a 2016 presidential campaign, but George W. says he’ll be happy to play Big Brother the Ex-President when the time comes. “Hey, Jeb, if you need some advice give me a call,” Bush 43 said.